New York, NY, June 28, 2000 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed dismay at the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing the Boy Scouts of America to keep gays out of their organization.

We are stunned that in the year 2000, the Supreme Court could issue such a decision. The Supreme Court’s decision provides cover for groups that attempt to target individuals they wish to exclude from their otherwise open membership rolls. This decision effectively states that as long as an organization avows an anti-homosexual position, it is free to discriminate against gay and lesbian Americans.

Growing up, many young boys of different backgrounds join the Boy Scouts. They come together to learn, camp, and give back to the community. Today’s decision, however, makes clear that while the Boy Scouts welcome all other boys, they are free to turn away gays who wish to become scouts or scoutmasters.

Instead of wearing proudly a Boy Scout merit badge, gay boys now wear a ‘scarlet letter.’ As Justice John Paul Stevens observed in his dissent, the Court today has attached a special stigma to being gay. No American, however, should be discriminated against or stigmatized simply because of his or her sexual orientation.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.